The Strongest Person I know
by AAnitab
Summary: On a very chatty stake out, Dani finally finds a way to make Charlie shut up.... and then some. Dani/Charlie romantic smut ensues. I am the queen.


Dani/Charlie life

The strongest person I know

By AnitaB

/Typical Charlie/ Dani found herself smiling, half against her will. There was the weirdest man she'd ever met, leaning back against the passenger door… watching her with those pale blue eyes.

Those eyes should be locked on the house on the corner. But Charlie had always had a different view of a stakeout, chat time.

And he always watched her. When he stood, he always leaned in close, bending that tall frame down for her. It always made her nervous, twitchy as all hell. Like the frog in 8th grade bio class. And yet here she was, stupidly spilling out things she'd never told anyone. And he was watching her.

And then he was suddenly closer. No longer holding up the car door, Charlie was crossing the car's front seat with something unreadable on his face. "Char—"

The rest of his name died on her lips. Or rather on his lips as they pressed and moved against her own. Gentle fingers touched her jaw, turning her chin into the heat of his kiss. Charlie Crews was kissing her. And Dani was helplessly leaning closer, her fingers curled around his as nerves all over her body melted into the shock and pleasure of his kiss.

And just as suddenly, it was over. And Charlie was far away, against the door watching her again. Her lips were tingling and her fingers moved to cover them.

"Cha—Charlie, why did you kiss me?"

Those blue eyes blinked slowly, darted away, and then determinedly met hers. The lips so recently touching hers quirked. Almost a smile. "Because, Dani, you're the strongest person I've ever known."

/Damn you, Charlie Crews./ He was the strongest person she'd ever known. He'd survived 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. And she watched every day as he fought to maintain a cool, calm zenness that she'd never in her life even felt. Charlie had gentleness beyond violence and hope beyond despair.

And he made it look so fucking easy. It made her crazy. Time to show him how much… "Charlie," Dani found herself crossing the seat to touch her fingers to his jaw, turning his face to meet his eyes. "You are the strongest person I know." Those blue eyes dropped to her lips in a brush of heat before locking to hers again. There was a sense of waiting, but not patience. Charlie wanted her. /Charlie/ Helpless before that look, Dani leaned in to press her lips over his.

It started out soft, warm, and just a little hesitant. In the blink of an eye, it changed. Charlie almost growled against her mouth and dragged her closer. Arms clenched tight around her waist as his tongue plunged and explored.

It was heaven, being here in his arms with the taste of his tea on her tongue.

And it wasn't enough. Dani threaded her fingers through his hair and pressed closer, her knee crossing his lap.

"Dani," his hand moved to the side of her face, pushing her back slightly onto his knees. "Are you sure?" His other hand splayed wide in the curve of her waist, rubbing up and down her side. "There's no reason to rush anything."

His voice was giving her a way out but his hands and eyes were asking her to say yes. And nerves all over her body were listening to his hands, and his eyes, and the slow drag of his tongue over his lips. Dani rested her hands on his chest, feeling the slightly ragged edge to his breathing. /Nope, Charlie, it was too late when you kissed me./ She smiled, sliding forward into his lap to whisper against his lips. "What, Charlie, you too scared for this?"

That red eyebrow arched. Those hands tightened, guiding her hips closer and harder against his to the sound of a shared groan. "Scared isn't the word for it, Dani. Come here," Charlie dipped his head to drag the tip of his tongue across her lips.

Dani groaned, wrapping both arms around his neck as she opened to the urgent dance of his tongue. /Yes, Charlie/

000

There was no way in hell he should be doing this. Detective Charlie Crews should never in a million years be putting his hands and lips on his partner. His younger, beautiful, amazingly strong partner. /Dani/

But he couldn't stop. He couldn't give up the feel of her curves against his hands, the heat of her in his arms, the soft touch of her hands on his chest. The look on her face as she pressed closer and teased his lips with her breath. He wasn't strong enough to give her up. "What, Charlie, you too scared for this?"

/Not scared, sweetheart, desperate./ Helplessly dragging her flush against his body, Charlie groaned. "Scared isn't the word for it, Dani. Come here," Her taste, he needed to taste her. At the first stroke of his tongue, his Dani opened in invitation, clinging to his neck with a groan and an arch. /Oh, yes, Dani/ He needed more. Slipping all ten fingers into her hair, Charlie deepened the kiss, drowning in her eager taste. Dani was fire in his arms. She was burning him alive with every inch of her body.

He needed to touch her. Right now. Weakly breaking the kiss, Charlie trailed his hands down her back to the precious curve of her hips. "Dani," His fingers tightened, rocking her closer and harder over his hips to the sound of her voice groaning. "Sweetheart, you feel…" His voice failed at the slow drag of her hands down his chest to the button of his jacket. Fingers pushed the cloth wide to slide under it.

"Charlie," Her lips brushed his lightly as her hands struggled his suit jacket over his shoulders. "I need…"

/Skin/ Charlie agreed completely, leaning forward against her to help Dani drag the fabric out of the way. As soon as the cuffs cleared his hands, he shoved his fingers under the edge of her shirt to drag hungry palms along her skin. "Dani," another minute and he'd have to rip every inch of fabric off her skin and cover her with touches and kisses. So soft, warm and smooth under his fingers. But how would she taste… "Dani, we shouldn't… this is a bad idea." Even as he tried to pull back, Charlie helplessly brushed a kiss against her lips. "We should stop."

Dani laughed, fingers moving to the buttons of his shirt and sliding each one through its hole. "We've both done a whole hell of a lot of things we shouldn't in our lives." Her hands burned down his chest inside his shirt. /Dani/ Groaning, she pressed closer, lips hovering above his. "Has a single one of them felt this right before, Charlie?" His breath caught at the sweet, fierce invasion of her kiss. "Ever?"

She was stealing his sense, stripping his tightly held control away a bit at a time. The last trembling line shattered under the weight of the need in her eyes and the way her hands shook against his skin. Dani owned him. "No, Dani, it's never felt this right. Never felt like this." Charlie caught his fingers in her hair and pulled her lips hard against his own. Her taste, her feel, her arms clinging to his shoulders. She was incredible. And he couldn't reach enough of her. "Dani,"

He kissed his way down her throat, lips meeting his fingers at the buttons of her shirt. Her hands trembled in his hair as her body moved eagerly against his, holding him closer. "Damnit, Charlie, touch me already."

He smiled against her ribs as the last buttons opened. She felt so good under his hands. "Like this, Dani?" A flick of his wrist opened the clasp of her bra and the softest skin on the earth filled his hands. "Is this how you want me to touch you?"

The soundless gasp on her lips was a better answer than any words could have been. And Charlie simply adored the arch of her back and the clench of her fists in his shirt.

She felt amazing. But how would she taste? Taking advantage of her closed eyes, Charlie dipped his head and dragged the tip of his tongue over her skin. /Yes, sweetheart./

000

/Breathe, damnit, breathe./ "Is this how you want me to touch you?"

She couldn't breathe enough to answer, not with Charlie's hands ever so gently cupping her breasts. He felt… so damn good. Dani found her fingers clenched in his shirt simply to keep her body upright in his arms. She needed more of this, more of his touch, arching helplessly into the heat of his hands. Those fingers slid down her ribs to be replaced by hungry lips and an eager tongue. /Oh, god, Charlie./

"More, Charlie, please." Dani lifted on her knees, hands desperately catching in his hair. "Charlie," She felt those lips curve into a smile against her heart. His hands slid down her thighs to pull her closer and tighter. He waited until his fingers pulled a needy sound from her throat and a helpless arch from her hips. Only then did Charlie obey the grip of her hands.

"That's my Dani," Charlie's lips finally kissed along the curve of her breast to close around the tip, pulling her into the wet heat of his mouth. Oh, fuck, the way it felt when he held her… just… like… this.

"Charlie," Nerves all over her body hummed in tune with his mouth and hands. Every inch of her skin wanted more of his, hungered for the heat of him. "That's my Charlie," Dani forced her hands open and found her fingers opening each of his cuffs, dragging along lean muscles. "Out of this, Charlie."

"My pushy little Dani," He grinned against her ribs, watching her struggle his shirt over his shoulders. "You first." Catching her hands, Charlie guided her back down into his lap, putting his lips achingly close to hers. "I need to touch you, feel you."

His hands cupped her hips before stroking so damn slowly up her sides and down her arms. She trembled under the slide of those hands, helplessly catching his lips with her own. On their own, her hands dragged his shirt from his body, her whole body pressing harder against his with a helpless sound.

It felt like he was setting her on fire, burning her alive along every single inch of skin contact. And he must have felt the same intensity. "Dani," His voice shook, almost growled as his lips captured hers and his hands struggled with her belt. "Help me…please."

Her breath caught at the heat in his eyes, the desperation in his touch. "Yes," Weakly pushing herself back from his chest, Dani rushed against the cold feeling in her skin. Badge, gun, and handcuffs hit the dashboard before her fingers unbuckled her belt and started on button and zipper.

Suddenly his fingers were helping, sliding under her waistband to peel the clothes from her skin. His hands were on her skin. But he was still wearing his pants. "Charlie, you ever want to wear those pants again, get 'em out of my way."

He smiled against her lips, his hands moved to place his gun, badge, and cuffs with hers. "You know, Dani, patience is a virtue."

He'd stripped her naked in a car and now he was talking patience. She'd show him just how little patience he had left. Her fingers attacked his zipper, slipping inside to stroke the hard length of him. "You want me to be virtuous, right now?" Dani watched his eyes fall closed, his neck arch, and felt his hands clench on her hips. "Really, Charlie?" Oh the way he felt in her hands, she didn't think virtue was going to win. "By the feel of this… you're out of patience, too."

When they opened again, his eyes locked to hers. Charlie wanted her, needed her so much his hands shook, so much he couldn't speak. /Charlie/

His hands helplessly clutched at her, pulling her closer as his lips tried to work. All that made it out was her name. "Dani," /Yes, Charlie/

000

He couldn't help teasing her. Fiery little Dani was bare in his lap, kissing him, touching him, and threatening his clothes with a gorgeous smile on her lips. "You know, Dani, patience is a virtue."

Her laugh tightened nerves all over his body in the instant before her fingers reached skin and shut down any self-control or brain power he'd had left. The delicious feel of her hands squeezing and stroking him reduced him to bare, hungry skin and desperate, mindless need. And her name.

Forcing his eyes open and his hands to work, Charlie got lost in the look on her face. "Dani," Helplessly, he dragged her right against his chest and pulled her hands up to his shoulders. If she kept touching him, Charlie was going to explode right here in her hands. And he needed to be inside her more than he needed air, or food, or to solve his case. "Dani, please,"

His fingers curved around her hips as his lips caught hers in a breathless kiss. Oh the way Dani tasted, the way every inch of her soft, strong body moved against his. He had to touch her, to feel how much she wanted this. His fingers curled into her hair to push her back enough to see her face. /Gorgeous/ "Charlie," Her eyes locked on his lips, her hands tightening on his shoulders. /Not yet, Sweetheart/

"Hold on, Dani, I need to touch you." Watching her face, Charlie groaned at the slick, wet heat of her around his fingers. He adored the arch of her back and the groan on her lips. Her nails bit into his shoulders and he loved it, pressing deeper. "Now?"

Her breasts pressed against his chest. Her knees shifted along the seat as Dani slipped a tiny hand between them to line him up. Then all that existed in the entirety of the universe was her eyes on his and the slow, sweet joining of their bodies. And her voice. "Yes, Charlie, yes."

People said heaven was becoming one with the divine. They lied. This, right here, this was heaven. This woman in his arms, holding him, touching him…kissing him. Sliding one hand into her hair, Charlie held her still around him with the other, pulling her close enough to drink the sound of his name off her lips. Dani was here sweetly opening to give him her taste.

"Dani, sweetheart," Charlie needed to feel every little bit of this, to store the taste, touch, and heat of it away, to fill up that cold, empty space inside him. He needed Dani to fill him up even as he filled her. "You feel… incredible," Another kiss and his hands shifted. Instead of holding her still, now they invited her to move. "Move, Dani, for me, for us."

Charlie simply adored the curve of her smile and the sparkle in her gorgeous brown eyes. And then she moved and he was lost in the sweet, velvet friction of it. "Like this, Charlie?" The arch of her hips stole his breath, he'd never in his life been held this deep inside a woman. "Is this how you want me to move?"

/Yes, Dani, yes./ She'd knocked every ounce of breath from his body. So a spoken answer was out. All Charlie could manage was a mindless nod and a kiss, his hands clutching desperately at her hips. Her groan said she heard or felt the answer anyway. Her hands slid up his chest to rub across his shoulders. Her lips stayed breathlessly, kissably close as her body rocked against his. "Dani," The feel of her was amazing. Each slow, sweet stroke of her body drove him wild. Every inch of her skin made his hands obsessed with touching her. And still it wasn't enough. Charlie needed more of Dani, all of her. "More, Dani, please."

Charlie locked his hands on the tops of her thighs, groaning into her kiss. His fingers changed the angle of her hips against his, meeting each thrust with a desperate arch of his back. So close. He was so close to fragmenting right here in her arms and praying she came with him.

"Charlie," But she sounded close. He adored that almost panicked sound in her voice. /Just a little more./ The sharp dig of her nails in his shoulders tightened with each meeting of their hips. "Charlie, please."

Catching her lips in a breathless plunge, he slid his fingertips between them to stroke over her pleasure chakra in time with her rhythm. /Right here, sweetheart, right now… Open, breathe, and feel me…/

The rush overtook them both, bringing helpless, wordless sounds to their lips, as arms tightened and bodies shook.

Awareness slowly returned to him through the soft, quiet heat of her skin against all of his. He adored the tight grip of her arms and the boneless collapse of her body over his.

"Dani," His fingers moved on their own to the line of her jaw and tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. /God, you're beautiful./ "My sweet Dani," Helplessly Charlie leaned in for a kiss. /My Dani/

000

She couldn't breathe past the amazing feel of Charlie buried inside her, the desperate heat of his kiss. Dani adored the smooth warmth of his skin under her hands.

He was so warm, so close. His hands slid along her sides to guide her hips, pressing harder and deeper inside her. "Dani," Her name on his lips made her breath catch. The need in his voice tightened nerves all over her body. "More, Dani, please." His hands changed the angle as he kissed her and plunged. It put pressure on a whole new set of nerves every time his hips moved against hers. So close, so very close.

"Charlie," Gripping the shifting muscles of his shoulders, Dani lost herself in the feel of him, all of him. "Charlie, please,"

Never, she'd never get enough of his kiss, enough of his arms around her, his body against and inside hers. His fingertips sliding over the spot most men didn't even bother looking for.

/Oh, god, Charlie, yes!/ Her body was no longer her own. It was Charlie's. He owned every inch of her skin with the gentle, fierce stroke of his hands, the urgent grip of his arms.

Dani listened to the rapid beat of his heart against his shoulder, trying to slow her own heart. This was the moment they always pulled away. And until Charlie, Dani usually beat the guy to the punch. Dressed and gone already. But now, here, she was wishing for something more. /Charlie/

His fingers reached for her, sliding along her jaw at the same moment he said her name. The sound of his voice destroyed any efforts on her part to breathe or think. That hand lifted her face into the burning gaze of those blue eyes. And something was there, written in his face; heat, need, and tenderness. /Charlie?/ "My sweet Dani,"

Dani watched his eyes fall to her lips as his arms tightened. Of all men, Charlie pulled her closer. Sweet, crazy, infuriating Charlie. And she'd never wanted anything more. Dani helplessly leaned in to meet those lips with her own. /Am I yours, Charlie?/ Sliding her hands into his hair, She deepened the kiss, adoring the feel of his arms tightening around her. She needed… something, from him. "Charlie," Dani forced her lips from his and met his eyes. "Stay with me tonight?"

She hated the insecure note in her voice, but it wasn't like she'd never been vulnerable in front of Charlie before. Dani was naked in his arms, but somehow, this was far more stressful. She needed more than just his skin against hers, more than just sex. This felt so good, so real, so perfect… but was it?

His smile loosened about half of the nerves in her back. The other half started to unwind at the gentle touch of his fingers along her jaw. "Tonight, and tomorrow and the day after." A gentle kiss finished the job on her back as she melted into the touch. "You're going to have to kick me out if you ever get tired of me, Dani, and be really blunt about it. I'm not going to let you go without one hell of a fight." Charlie gave her a bright smile and a laugh, his fingers running through her hair. "You're mine, Dani, unless you don't want to be."

/Yes, I want to be yours./ She adored the slight hint of insecurity in his eyes. /Nice to know I'm not in this alone./ "You can be a little stupid, Charlie. Takes a lot more than a handsome face to get brought home. And no one's ever gotten me like you do."

His hands slid over her skin, dragging a shiver in their path down her back to her hips. "Guess you're stuck with me, huh, Dani?"

"Guess so, Charlie. Do you mind?" Her hands rested on his chest, feeling the reaction of his muscles to the teasing edge of her nails. His arms tightened, pulling her closer against his chest.

"Never, My Dani." He pressed a kiss to her lips before pulling back with a smile. "But we should probably get dressed, unless you want our backup to get a lot more of you than normal too."

Yeah, in less than an hour they were due to get off duty on this little stakeout. The idea of letting him out of her arms didn't sound good. The feel of his skin against all of hers was too good to even think of giving up for too long. /Soon, Charlie, soon./ "Okay, but I reserve the right to strip you later."

His hands pressed against her skin, dragging a soft sound from her lips as he leaned in for another kiss. "Deal, Dani."

000


End file.
